Every year I strive to complete a new reading challenge. This is a fun practice that I recommend to everyone. It forces you to read at least a few books each year that you might otherwise have never looked at. This year I’m working on the 2016 Reading Challenge.
One of the requirements of the challenge is to read a book recommended by someone you just met. So, to that end, I began asking every family that came to my children’s desk for recommendations. Let me just tell you that I received a ton of great suggestions but one got my attention right away. A girl in upper elementary said, “I highly recommend The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick.”
I had seen this series before but never read it myself so I grabbed the first book and took a closer look. The story is about a group of friends in middle school. In the book the girls mother’s decide it would be a fun idea to start a mother-daughter book club. Each year the club reads a different classic or series of classics by a particular author. The stories follow the girls and their moms throughout their school year. The books give you a realistic slice of life look at their lives, their ups and downs, their successes and missteps – academically, socially, at school and at home. And, of course, we follow the book clubs progress as they meet periodically throughout the year to discuss their reading. Each book essentially becomes two stories seamlessly blended into one; the story of the girls and the story of the classic, both the story itself and everything we learn along with the girls about the author they’re reading.
What at fun idea! Now I may be an adult but you can bet that I called my mother right up and told her about this series. We decided to read the b
ooks, along with the classics, and discuss them together. We’re working our way through the fourth book in the series now, Pies & Prejudice, along with Pride & Prejudice – of course, and we are having a blast. It’s great fun to reread the classics that, in some cases, we haven’t looked at since I was in high school.
So, here’s my suggestion – my challenge – to you: Start your own book club with your child. Do it one-on-one, just the two of you, or in a group with your child’s friends and their parents. Your book club can be of the mother-daughter variety like in this series that I’m reading now or you can switch it up. Maybe your book club is a father-son, or mother-son, or father-daughter club. Maybe you’ll decide you’d rather do a grandparent-grandchild book club or a book club with the whole family. It’s up to you! Play around with it and start the book club that works best for you. Make it light, make it fun, and bond with your child over books.
And, remember, if you discover a great book come to the library and tell us about it. We are always looking for the next great story to read.
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